“Now (for) my (lord), (for) the gods of the king my lord, my god, my Sun, I guard this city, and again ... let me protect all his land.
“I have heard the words of the king my lord to his representative, when he is not able to protect the country of the king my lord. So now the king my lord has appointed Rianappa, the representative of the king my lord, to whom[66] I will bring (?) good fortune for the king.
“Whatever cometh out of the mouth of the king my lord, lo, that will I keep day and night.”
Yidia Concerning The Commissariat.
“To the king my lord, my Sun, my god, the Sun who (cometh) from the heavens, (say also) thus: ‘(it is) Yidia thy servant, the dust of thy feet, thy charioteer. I fall down at the feet of the king my lord seven times and twice seven times, back and breast. Behold, I am keeping the commands of the king my lord, the son of the Sun, and behold, I have provided the food, drink, oil, grain, oxen, (and) sheep, for the soldiers of the king my lord—provisions, every kind, for the soldiers of the king my lord. Who would be a vassal, and not obey the words of the king my lord, the son of the Sun?’ ”
Letters similar to the above are numerous, and show that Egyptian rule was not regarded as burthensome—indeed, it may have been even welcome, tending in all [pg 288] probability to the preservation of peace. It must have been difficult, however, for the Egyptian king to hold the scales of justice always even, for among the governors were always men who professed faithfulness, but who aimed at throwing off the Egyptian yoke, light as it was.
In all probability the trouble began in the north, that district being farthest from the Egyptian marches, and what was going on there was on that account longer in reaching the knowledge of the king. Judging from a letter from Ili-rabiḫ, written from Gebal, Etakama, of Kinza and Kadesh, smote the whole of the lands of Amki, “the territory of the king.” “And now,” the inscription continues, “he has sent his people to seize the lands of Amki and the places. Further, the king of the land of Ḫatta (Heth), and the king of the land of Narima (Naharaim), have been unsuccessful (?), and” (here the writer breaks off the narrative).
Another account of this affair is as follows—
Bêri (Or Bieri) To The King About The Attack On Amki.
“To the king, my lord, (my god, my sungod), say then thus: ‘It is Bêri, (thy servant), the Ḫašabite.’ Down to the dust of the feet of the king my lord 7 (times) and 7 (times) I fall. Behold, we occupy, in Amki, the cities of the king, my lord, and Edagama, the Kinzite, has gone to meet the soldiers of Ḫatta (Heth), and set (the cities) of the king my lord on fire. And may the king my lord know, and may the king (my) lord give field-soldiers. And we will occupy the cities of the king my lord, and we will dwell in the cities of the king my lord, my god, my sungod.”